Abu Dhabi / WAM
Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), the subsidiary created by Joint Venture partners Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), and Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), to operate, maintain the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, on Monday signed a Long Term Maintenance Services Agreement (LTMSA), with Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP), supported by Kepco Plant Service and Engineering (KPS).
Under the scope of the signed LTMSA contract, KHNP and KPS will provide maintenance services to support routine and outage maintenance activities of the four APR1400 units of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, under the leadership of Nawah and in strict accordance with the UAE’s nuclear energy regulator’s quality and safety standards.
KHNP is a subsidiary of Kepco, Enec JV partner and Prime Contractor for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, the first nuclear energy plant in the Arab World, located in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi.
The KHNP consortium, supported by KPS, was selected to become a maintenance services partner as a result of its demonstrated capacity to work under the leadership of Nawah to support safe and quality-driven maintenance work at the Barakah plant.
The KHNP consortium supported by KPS, will play a key role in providing maintenance services, including planning and execution, under the leadership of Nawah. KHNP and KPS will also provide highly-qualified manpower in the form of supervisory and management experts, as well as maintenance leadership, who will be deployed to support the safety and quality-led maintenance of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.
Under Nawah’s leadership, KHNP will conduct testing, diagnostics, inspections, maintenance and replacement services, amongst others for both the nuclear and non-nuclear components of the Barakah plant.
KHNP operates and maintains the Shin Kori 3 and 4 nuclear energy plants in South Korea. These APR1400 reactors are the reference plants for Barakah, and therefore KHNP will bring specific experience to Barakah in maintaining this type of nuclear energy reactor.
Nawah, as the future holder of the Operating License from the UAE’s independent regulator, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), will hold all regulatory responsibilities for operations and maintenance of the Barakah plant. Nawah is currently preparing to commence operations of the first Unit of Barakah between the end of 2019 and early 2020, pending regulatory approval.
Mark Reddemann, Chief Executive Officer of Nawah, said, “We are delighted to have secured a long-term maintenance services relationship with KHNP and KPS. Through this agreement, we have created a robust framework of maintenance services providers that combine the best-in-class maintenance expertise in thermal and nuclear plant infrastructure and expertise in the APR1400 technology.â€
The approval of these maintenance agreements stands as a firm commitment to securing the best international partners to ensure safe and quality-led nuclear maintenance at Barakah.â€
Jaehoon Chung, President and Chief Executive Officer of KHNP, said, “Now we have opened another chapter for a comprehensive collaboration system under which Team Korea and Team UAE will work together as a team. KHNP and KPS will assign its talented resources with outstanding technical expertise including high-level officials to the Barakah plant to support its safe and reliable operation. We will proactively support the UAE in its endeavours to secure its own capabilities to successfully operate the plant through localisation. I am confident that Team Korea, as the only party across the globe that has experience in operating APR1400, can contribute to the safe and reliable operations of the Barakah plant by playing a crucial role in its maintenance project. Furthermore, I hope our engagement in the project can continue to be extended.”
The agreement with the KHNP consortium is followed by a Maintenance Service Agreement, MSA, with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, DHIC. These agreements are central components in Nawah’s maintenance strategy to bring prominent suppliers from the international nuclear energy industry to ensure global best practice standards for operational excellence are implemented at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, while in parallel developing the UAE’s local nuclear manpower capabilities and supply chain.
Nawah, Doosan sign deal
Abu Dhabi / WAM
Nawah Energy Company signed a Maintenance Service Agreement (MSA), with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction (DHIC), a subsidiary of Doosan Group, for Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.
Under the agreement, Doosan will provide Nawah with a range of maintenance services and qualified manpower to support routine and outage maintenance activities across the four 1400 MW APR1400 units at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, located in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi Emirate.
Working in partnership with leading international companies such as DHIC, reinforces the services and sources of qualified maintenance experts available to Nawah – supporting the quality and safety-led maintenance work at the Barakah Plant that, as the future holder of the Operating Licence from the FANR, Nawah will be
responsible for delivering.
DHIC is a South Korean company with more than five decades of experience in delivering integrated solutions spanning the construction and peaceful nuclear energy industries. It is a significant supplier of major components for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, and has a proven track record of providing safe and reliable maintenance services.
Commenting on the agreement, Mark Reddemann, CEO of Nawah, said, “We are delighted to sign this agreement with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, reflecting the strong relationship between the UAE and South Korea. DHIC, which has decades of experience in providing high-quality components to the global nuclear industry, is a robust addition to our experienced group of international maintenance service providers, who will support our quality-led operations and maintenance of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.”
In turn, Kiyong Na, CEO of Nuclear Power Plant Business Group of DHIC, stated, “This agreement will be a stepping stone for close cooperation with Nawah to operate the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant safely and efficiently. As DHIC has supplied quality nuclear components such as Reactor Vessel, Steam Generator and Turbine & Generators on time and within budget to Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, we will support Nawah with excellent maintenance technology.”
The agreement with Doosan follows Nawah’s recent signing of a Long Term Maintenance Services Agreement with a KHNP consortium supported by Korea Electric Power Corporation Plant Service and Engineering
The agreement comes within the framework of ENEC and Nawah’s strategy to draw on the expertise of a number of companies based in countries with established and highly-performing nuclear energy programmes.
A pool of qualified international maintenance suppliers will provide maintenance services to Nawah, while ensuring that Nawah retains leadership of the maintenance work of the Barakah units, in line with the obligations set out in the Operating License.
This strategy provides opportunities for knowledge transfer to build the UAE’s local nuclear energy supply chain, and supports the development of national capabilities, as well as ensuring the achievement of the highest standards of quality and safety.